General thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
-
Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 2009
Evaluation of chest computed tomography in patients after pneumonectomy to predict contralateral pneumothorax.
Contralateral pneumothorax is a severe complication after pneumonectomy. We evaluated the mediastinal shift and the residual lung in patients who had undergone pneumonectomy to predict the incidence of contralateral pneumothorax. ⋯ The bullae in the lung and obstructive pulmonary disease are associated not only with spontaneous pneumothorax but also with contralateral pneumothorax after pneumonectomy. Lung herniation and mediastinal shift are greater after left pneumonectomy than after right pneumonectomy, which may be related to contralateral pneumothorax after pneumonectomy.